Rhodes, Cecil John
Birth date
05/07/1853
Death date
26/03/1902
Biography
Cecil Rhodes was an imperialist and colonialist, whose racist, discriminatory and exploitative actions have continued to affect people of African heritage long after his death. When his father died in 1878 Cecil Rhodes inherited land in Dalston.
He believed that ‘Anglo-Saxon’ people were ‘the first race in the world’, and were superior to people of African heritage. Rhodes was an imperialist who was involved in the extension of his own country’s power and influence through the use of political, and sometimes physical force. This colonisation process led to seizing land and taking control of the indigenous people in other countries, without any right to do so.
The Rhodes family settled on land in Hackney during the 1700s. This land was handed down from father to sons. The family were initially farmers, eventually setting up brickworks using the natural clay on their land which was perfect for making bricks.
In time, sections of their farmland were leased to builders who constructed houses and laid out the streets we see today. Cecil Rhodes is the first family member to have connections to Africa. He was not born in the London Borough of Hackney, nor did he live here, but he retained a strong link with Dalston. When his father died in 1878 Cecil Rhodes inherited land in Dalston. Just a few years later in 1885, he considered standing as a Member of Parliament for Hackney Central, the constituency in which the family’s Dalston estate was in. Around a decade after this, Rhodes invested money to provide a gymnasium in Forest Road as well as providing ‘popular standard works’ for the use of gymnasium members.
When his father, William Rhodes, died in 1878 he divided his estate among his nine children and Cecil Rhodes inherited some land in Dalston through this process. With the wealth generated through his exploits in Southern Africa Cecil Rhodes was able to buy out his siblings’ shares of the land, becoming the main holder of the Rhodes Estate.
The ‘Rhodes’ family name is present across three sites in Hackney. It is not totally clear whether they were named after the historical family connections or Cecil Rhodes himself. However, the fact that local newspaper reports from 1899 relating to Cecil Rhodes investment in the Dalston area refer to ‘Mr Cecil Rhodes and his brothers’ suggests that Cecil Rhodes’ international activities and the wealth they generated, placed him at the forefront of people’s minds at this time.
He believed that ‘Anglo-Saxon’ people were ‘the first race in the world’, and were superior to people of African heritage. Rhodes was an imperialist who was involved in the extension of his own country’s power and influence through the use of political, and sometimes physical force. This colonisation process led to seizing land and taking control of the indigenous people in other countries, without any right to do so.
The Rhodes family settled on land in Hackney during the 1700s. This land was handed down from father to sons. The family were initially farmers, eventually setting up brickworks using the natural clay on their land which was perfect for making bricks.
In time, sections of their farmland were leased to builders who constructed houses and laid out the streets we see today. Cecil Rhodes is the first family member to have connections to Africa. He was not born in the London Borough of Hackney, nor did he live here, but he retained a strong link with Dalston. When his father died in 1878 Cecil Rhodes inherited land in Dalston. Just a few years later in 1885, he considered standing as a Member of Parliament for Hackney Central, the constituency in which the family’s Dalston estate was in. Around a decade after this, Rhodes invested money to provide a gymnasium in Forest Road as well as providing ‘popular standard works’ for the use of gymnasium members.
When his father, William Rhodes, died in 1878 he divided his estate among his nine children and Cecil Rhodes inherited some land in Dalston through this process. With the wealth generated through his exploits in Southern Africa Cecil Rhodes was able to buy out his siblings’ shares of the land, becoming the main holder of the Rhodes Estate.
The ‘Rhodes’ family name is present across three sites in Hackney. It is not totally clear whether they were named after the historical family connections or Cecil Rhodes himself. However, the fact that local newspaper reports from 1899 relating to Cecil Rhodes investment in the Dalston area refer to ‘Mr Cecil Rhodes and his brothers’ suggests that Cecil Rhodes’ international activities and the wealth they generated, placed him at the forefront of people’s minds at this time.